Oldest Human Fossil Found Outside Africa

A human fossil found in Isreal in 2002 now shows that humans may have left Africa up to 100,000 years earlier than originally thought. Researchers spent one and a half decades studying an upper jawbone and stone tools found in a cave in Isreal.

The jawbone was found with teeth that were thought to be between 170 000 and 190 000 years old. CT scans helped to build a 3D model, which researchers then compared with other fossils from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The tools found nearbysuggest that prehistoric people were busymakingvariousobjects that they used for hunting animals and gathering. While some scientists say that the tools could only have been made by homo sapiens, modern people, others do not ignore the fact that Neanderthals could also have made them.

Up to now, the oldest fossils found outside Africa were also located in Israel. According toarchaeologists, they were no more than 90,000 to 120,000 years old.

The new discovery also sets back the date at which homo sapiens appeared in Africa. While the current theory says that they originated in Africa 200,000 years ago, we now may believe that they actually showed up between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago. If that is true, then they probably left Africa on short trips to other continents as early as 200,000 years ago.

Skull of a Homo Sapiens – Image: Dr. Günter Bechly

Words

according to = as said by …

appear = show up; start to exist

archaeologist = a person who studies ancient civilisations by looking at what is left of buildings, tools etc..

cave = a large natural hole in the side of a hill or mountain

compare = to look at two or more things and find out the differences between them

CT scan = an examination in which the inside of an object is produced on a computer using x-rays

current = now

decade = ten years

discovery = finding something for the first time

fossil = an animal or plant that lived many thousands of years ago and that has been preserved in rock

gathering = to look for plants to eat

homo sapiens = modern man; the type of human that exists now

humans = people

ignore = pay no attention to …

jawbone = one of the bones that are in your teeth

located = found

Neanderthal = early type of human being who lived in Europe during the Stone Age

originally = at first

originate = come from

prehistoric people = people who lived a long time ago, before anything was written down

researcher = someone who studies a subject in detail in order to find out more about it

scientist = a person who is trained in science and works in a lab

skull = the bones of a person’s head

stone tools = early tools that the first people made out of stone; they were used for hunting, gathering food and making fire